Wierd logic

[Alexandros]

Sorry if I am having a hard time understanding Audi logic. It is my first Audi (RS5) and I keep getting surprised by some of the features. Today, I was parked in a gas station, ignition off. An old lady was backing up towards me at a relatively fast pace. My immediate instinct was to honk my horn and avoid a disaster. The horn did not work. It took a good samaritan parked in front of me to stop her by banging on her rear fender. I have owned many cars in my long life and can't remember any with a horn that does not work with the iginition off!! What gives?

[chrisdazzo]

Weird logic? No electrical connection, no horn. Think of it this way: there's a button you have to press to turn on the radio, switch you have to turn to turn on the lights. There's no horn switch, it's (probably) as simple as that.

[Alexandros]

Weird logic? No electrical connection, no horn. Think of it this way: there's a button you have to press to turn on the radio, switch you have to turn to turn on the lights. There's no horn switch, it's (probably) as simple as that.

Sorry but the point is missed. Hazard lights, interior lights, brake lights and others, all work without ignition on. It is, just as my incident today demonstrated, an important matter of safety!

[GotRS?]

I get it, and there's other occasions you could think of too which it would be useful.

How about this one - dashboard lights lit up when you have no headlights/rear lights on? Not on this car but on numerous toyotas on my commute, last night a gray one in the dark, in the fog. Do they have no 'auto' position on their light switches on this type of vehicle? That's just the type that it should be fixed to auto.

[Atmmac]

Had a similar situation with the horn. I ran in to grab pizza wife was in the car and she couldn't hit it either. Car was missed by inches. Totally agree on this quirk being an issue.

[namvar]

had the same problem the other day. First car I have owned that the horn does not work when the car is off.

[d1amund]

Anything in vag-com to change this? Haven't thought about it until this post but that is mighty stupid to omit that "feature".

[dux ducis]

looks like the only solution here is to sell the car, and quickly

[jpenneck]

Audi is not the only car manufacturer to disable the horn when the ignition is off and I think Volvo and others do it too. I can't understand it either.

[SLU_S5]

Audi is not the only car manufacturer to disable the horn when the ignition is off and I think Volvo and others do it too. I can't understand it either.

Not sure about the newer Volvos, but the horn worked while the ignition was off in my old S60R (Produced from 04-07), and My mom's second generation C70 (2006-2013)

Either way, this horn issue makes no sense to me.

[HazeMyth]

I was completely unaware of the horn issue. Aside from it being disabled to make cleaning the steering wheel easier, I see no logic in this. Even then, you'd think that it would be an MMI feature to disable the horn to keep it from going off while cleaning.

[Mops@Nemesis]

Was the same on my 08. I cannot remember if the same on my 98, 05, 07 Audi cars.

[talkinghamster]

i know my 2010 A5 horn doesnt go off either with no ignition.

it is stupid.

[ryanhmusic]

Was the same on my 08. I cannot remember if the same on my 98, 05, 07 Audi cars.

my 07 is the same -- I know my buddies 04 is the same so B6 and B7s have this same "feature"

[rasetsu]

I did not know about this! Granted I rarely drive the Audi. I will need to check to see if my GTI is the same way. I've had to honk at people before with the engine off in other cars so I agree that this is a strange and dangerous "feature".

How about this one - dashboard lights lit up when you have no headlights/rear lights on? Not on this car but on numerous toyotas on my commute, last night a gray one in the dark, in the fog. Do they have no 'auto' position on their light switches on this type of vehicle? That's just the type that it should be fixed to auto.

This drives me crazy. Actually, I think the problem is that they do have their lights in auto but there is enough light hitting the dash sensor to not trigger the headlights to come on and these people have no idea how to actually turn their lights on manually anymore. This happens a LOT after it stops raining and there is a a lot of tire spray across the highway but all these people are driving without lights on so you don't see the back of their cars until you are right up behind them.

Another thing that really annoys me are how GM cars trigger the reverse lights as "courtesy lights" when the driver hits their lock or unlock on their key fob. Makes people sit and wait in a parking lot thinking they are going to start backing out of their spot.

[Mops@Nemesis]

my 07 is the same -- I know my buddies 04 is the same so B6 and B7s have this same "feature"

I was leaning toward that.

I did not know about this! Granted I rarely drive the Audi. I will need to check to see if my GTI is the same way. I've had to honk at people before with the engine off in other cars so I agree that this is a strange and dangerous "feature".



This drives me crazy. Actually, I think the problem is that they do have their lights in auto but there is enough light hitting the dash sensor to not trigger the headlights to come on and these people have no idea how to actually turn their lights on manually anymore. This happens a LOT after it stops raining and there is a a lot of tire spray across the highway but all these people are driving without lights on so you don't see the back of their cars until you are right up behind them.

Another thing that really annoys me are how GM cars trigger the reverse lights as "courtesy lights" when the driver hits their lock or unlock on their key fob. Makes people sit and wait in a parking lot thinking they are going to start backing out of their spot.

My mk6 cars and mk7 did/do not work when off.

[JoshDub]

None of my European cars horns have worked with the car off. My BMW E30, E53 X5, Audi B3 90, B6 A4, B8 S5, my parents B6, my brothers Volvo, and my girlfriends old mkii golf and mkiv GTI.

I think it might be some euro regulation or something because none of them have ever worked with key off.

[method:S5]

I did not know about this! Granted I rarely drive the Audi. I will need to check to see if my GTI is the same way. I've had to honk at people before with the engine off in other cars so I agree that this is a strange and dangerous "feature".



This drives me crazy. Actually, I think the problem is that they do have their lights in auto but there is enough light hitting the dash sensor to not trigger the headlights to come on and these people have no idea how to actually turn their lights on manually anymore. This happens a LOT after it stops raining and there is a a lot of tire spray across the highway but all these people are driving without lights on so you don't see the back of their cars until you are right up behind them.

Another thing that really annoys me are how GM cars trigger the reverse lights as "courtesy lights" when the driver hits their lock or unlock on their key fob. Makes people sit and wait in a parking lot thinking they are going to start backing out of their spot.

This drives me crazy!

[JamesRS5]

I keep one of these in the glovebox for those unpowered horn emergencies.

[Mops@Nemesis]

Riiiiicolaaaaaaaa

[GotRS?]

It seems Honda and cousins had a fault where horns only worked with the ignition off!

I have to go for the "stop that kid pressing the horn" argument, from when it was "safe" to leave your kids unattended in the car for a while.

Moving on... how about a pip-pip feature of the horn to show appreciation, acknowledgement, etc? Not so easy to do well I find. The blinker flick does the three blinks now, as a precedent.